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1) Brooklyn, New York's 32nd Annual International African Arts Festival, July 4-6.
2) Hispanic students still face tough obstacles on the road to college
3) Detroit welcomes 45,000 Delegates June 16-20 For National Baptist Convention, USA
4) Kenneth I. Guscott --Launching a 38 floor skyscraper in Boston's Financial District

---Congressional Black Caucus and Senate Democrats to host African American Leadership Summit---Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chair of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee, announced plans to hold an African American Leadership Summit with CBC members, Senate Democrats and over 250 African American leaders from around the country. They will meet on Thursday, June 26, for a day-long discussion of issues important to African American families, including jobs and the economy, education, health care, civil rights and homeland security. CBC members and Democratic Senators have invited two leaders from their respective states or districts to participate in the summit. "Democrats and African Americans share a common commitment to equality of opportunity and strengthening of community," Daschle said. "This summit is a way for us to promote mutual understanding of our policy priorities and reaffirm our commitment to working together on issues important to the African American community and to all Americans." Former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman will moderate a panel discussion on jobs and the economy. The Summit will conclude with a town hall meeting with young African American leaders. The discussion will focus on policy priorities raised by these emerging civic leaders and encourage greater participation of younger African Americans in the electoral process.

---Racial discrimination at Macy's nationwide?---
In 2002, Macy's Herald Square security apprehended approximately 1,600 individuals for alleged shoplifting--92% were Black, Hispanic, Asian and other people of color and only 8% were White. Recently, in Federal district court in lower Manhattan, lawyers for Sharon Simmons-Thomas, a Manhattan legal secretary, filed an amended, nationwide class-action complaint against Macy's and its parent company, Federated Department Stores Inc. Last Christmas season, Ms. Simmons-Thomas was detained and wrongfully accused of shoplifting at Macy's flagship Herald Square Store because of the color of her skin. The expanded complaint, following an initial suit filed on May 20th, is based on a series of new evidence showing a coordinated policy of Macy's targeting non-white customers for shoplifting. Moreover, Macy's policy included a revenue-generating scheme wherein security staff demanded in-store monetary payments from people of color wrongfully accused of shoplifting -- in exchange for dropping the false allegations. "This new evidence shows that what happened to Ms. Thomas is not an isolated incident, but rather is part of a larger and very disturbing pattern that extends across the country," said Ken Thompson, lead attorney for the class and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the police officers responsible for violating Abner Louima's civil rights. New statistical evidence paints a horrific picture of racial profiling, not only at the Herald Square Store, but also in other stores, including Macy's Boston, MA; Plantation, FL; Nassau County, New York and White Plains, New York.

---Bishop T.D. Jakes addressed "National Summit on Racism in the Church"---
Bishop T.D. Jakes was the featured speaker for the "National Summit on Racism in the Church", which was hosted by the Cincinnati Area Pastors, a diverse group of senior pastors and church leaders. The Summit focused on "addressing the roots and the fruit of racism and animosity." Bishop Jakes, who is the pastor of a diverse, multi-ethnic congregation in Dallas, Texas, has been described by the New York Times as "one of the top five evangelists most frequently cited by scholars, theologians, and evangelical leaders. Other religious leaders participating in the National Summit on Racism in the Church include Dr. Frederick K.C. Price, Pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angeles; Pastor Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois; Dr. Mark Noll, Professor at Wheaton College and Co-founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals; Pastor Glenn R. Plummer, Pastor of Ambassadors for Christ Church in Detroit and Chairman and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), the first African American to hold that position in the 59-year history of the NRB. For more information, contact Carolyn Miller at (214)325-8388.
cmiller@tdjakes.org

---Hempstead, NY Mayor James Garner elected President of U.S. Conference of Mayors---America's mayors elected James A. Garner, the Republican Mayor of Hempstead, New York, to serve as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors for the next year. More than 200 mayors from across the nation and around the world recently met for the 71st Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the 2nd International Conference of Mayors. As president, Mayor Garner will set the Conference's agenda, appoint committee and task force chairs, and serve as national spokesman for the nation's 1183 mayors of cities with a population of more than 30,000. Mayor Garner is serving his fourth term as Mayor of Hempstead, a New York City suburb. He became Long Island's first African-American Mayor in 1989. For more information, contact Alicia Evans via email: penpower@villagenet.com.

---Reorganization announced for Leon H. Sullivan Institutions---
Plans were announced for the reorganization and consolidation of several charitable organizations established by the late Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, who gained international prominence for his fight to end apartheid in South Africa and improve social and economic conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer, who chairs several of the institutions, made the announcement. According to Dr. Brimmer, who is president of Washington-based Brimmer & Company, "When Rev. Sullivan died in April 2001, he was the leader of four institutions and two transnational programs. While these organizations and programs were pursuing related goals, they were separate entities spread among three locations. At the time of his death, Rev. Sullivan had begun to explore the possibility of creating an umbrella organization to consolidate and coordinate the activities of these different groups and programs. Sadly, we were not able to make much progress before he passed." Dr. Brimmer said the first move toward consolidation occurred in April 2002, when the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation (LHSF) was established in Washington, D.C. It assumed responsibility for the Sullivan African-African American Summit. Other reorganization actions taken by the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help on June 10, 2003 were:(1) To rename the Organization: IFESH: Sullivan International Programs for Education and Self-Help; (2) The People's Investment Fund for African was closed down, and Peoples Savings Notes (the main source of funding) were redeemed; (3) A new Sullivan Fund for Economic Assistance to Africa was created in IFESH to replace PIFA. The IFESH Board of Directors approved the reorganization unanimously. The Leadership of the new Organization consists of: Mrs. Grace Sullivan, Honorary Chair; Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Dr. C.T. Wright, President, and Dr. Julie Sullivan, Executive Vice President. For more information, contact, Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer via email: AFBrimmer@aol.com.

---Pimpin' From the Pulpit to the Pews---
Author Hasani Pettiford's new book, "PIMPIN' From the Pulpit to the Pews: Exposing and Expelling the Spirit of Lust in the Church" is an explosive, eye-opening book that reveals how the spirit of lust has crept into the church and has devastatingly affected both its leadership and laity. The book not only exposes the spirit of lust, but offers a step-by-step plan for overcoming sexual sin. According to Pettiford, "Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, incest, masturbation and several other sexual strongholds have crept into the pulpits, altars and pews of the church, and such inappropriate sexual behavior compromises the integrity of church leadership." This issue of sexual misconduct in and around the church is now becoming one of toughest to resolve -personally, legally and spiritually-even though acts of misconduct often go unreported. In fact, surveys and court actions document that significant issues of inappropriate sexual behaviors exist in religious institutions. One survey of almost three hundred pastors reveals that 23 percent of them admitted to sexually inappropriate behavior, 12 percent to sexual intercourse with someone other than their wife. In another survey of about 1,100 Protestant clergy, 38.5 percent admitted to inappropriate sexual contact and 12.7 percent had engaged in sexual intercourse with a church member. Another survey of a denomination showed that 70 percent of its members said they knew a minister who had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior."In my book, I share life skills to enable people to change these disturbing trends," says Pettiford, who notes that "policies, without personal commitment, will never change behavior." "Contrary to what was preached in the pulpit, Black churches have long had a 'wink and a nod' attitude toward the sexual behavior of its members," says Pettiford, who notes that this "contributes to confusion and double talk about the issue." He adds, "Black churches have seldom squarely addressed issues of anyone's sexuality including males, gays, clergy, youth, and especially women and often take a don't ask, don't tell attitude in addressing inappropriate behaviors between people in the church." For more information on this book or to get a copy, contact Lisa Gibson-Wilson by phone: 888-737-3364 or send email to: info@renmanserv.com.

---Hispanic students still face tough obstacles on the road to college---
New focus group research suggests that academically qualified Hispanic high school students are often derailed on the road to higher education by low expectations from teachers, poor understanding of the college admissions and financial aid processes, and little adult support. Those are findings in "With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk about their Future," a new report prepared by Public Agenda for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. "The idea for this research began with an earlier survey showing that Hispanic parents place enormous emphasis on higher education," said John Immerwahr, author of the report and Senior Research Fellow at Public Agenda. "They believe that a college education is a prerequisite for a good job and a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. Despite this belief, statistics show that Hispanic high school students are less likely to go on to full-time higher education and less likely to graduate with a degree. The purpose of this research was to probe this gap." The "college-maybe" students often struggled with challenges ranging from lack of help with applications to lack of knowledge of the rules of the game to lack of financial resources. "What this research suggests is that the decision to go to college requires a certain degree of knowledge, guidance, and even faith in long-term rewards over short-term gains," said Immerwahr. "Hispanic students are hardly unique in facing obstacles -- yet they may be somewhat distinctive in their lack of support from knowledgeable, education-savvy adults who can help them overcome this typical teenage deficiency.

---Detroit welcomes 45,000 Delegates June 16-20 For National Baptist Convention, USA---Detroit will host the 98th Congress of Christian Education June 16-20, an auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the nation's largest African American religious organization. This year's convention is expected to attract 45,000-60,000 attendees generating $40-$45 million in delegate spending.

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